Scotian Gold odour prompts evacuation in Coldbrook

Annapolis Valley store, storage facility closed for several hours

A suspected chemical leak forced the evacuation of the Scotian Gold store and storage facilities in Coldbrook on Tuesday. (Google Streetview)

A suspected chemical leak forced the evacuation of the Scotian Gold store and storage facilities in the Annapolis Valley on Tuesday, but was later determined to be unsubstantiated.

The Kings County Hazardous Materials Response Team was called in just before noon on Tuesday. Crews went into the chemical storage plant in Coldbrook, just west of Kentville, to deal with what they thought was a leak.

David Cudmore, the president and CEO of Scotian Gold Co-operative Ltd., said the employees first noticed a strong odour and suspected soil fumigant was leaking. Scotian Gold owns and operates a warehouse used to store crop protection chemicals.

Cudmore said the employees called 911 and evacuated both the adjacent country store and fertilizer plant.

"The fire department and emergency response team came to the area. The store and our fertilizer plant were vacated as part our internal emergency program here," he told CBC News earlier on Tuesday.

"All the employees in that area were removed before the fire department arrived."

No one was injured.

Cudmore said by 2:30 p.m., crews determined there was no physical evidence of a leak and it was likely not the cause of the smell. The store was reopened to customers.

He said Scotian Gold plans to return the product contained in the cylinders they suspect gave off the odour to the manufacturer, to be on the safe side.